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Karl Mordo (Earth-11584)
History "You still think there will be no consequences for our actions today? No consequences for her actions? You forget the first rule of Magic, Strange: There is always a price to pay." '''Karl Mordo '''was a member of the Masters of the Mystic Arts and a formidable student of the Sorcerer Supreme, The Ancient One. In many respects, Mordo acted as the primary teacher at Kamer-Taj, both in terms of basic spellcasting as well as unarmed combat. Mordo was fanatically devoted to the Ancient One and her teachings, and was a heavy proponent of the "Natural Law", a set of rules that governed the proper use of magic and taught that every use of magic had a price to pay, usually one that was directly proportional to the magic used. Little has been revealed about Mordo's past, except that he grew up in extreme poverty, living on the streets from an early age, and that his family has all died. Mordo himself has spoken of his reasons for coming to Kamer-Taj in the first place, that he was seeking the power to defeat his enemies. However what he meant by that is unknown. It is known that he was much like Doctor Stephen Strange when he first came to Kamer-Taj, disrespectful and dismissive of the Ancient One's teachings, as well as only there for selfish reasons rather than actual enlightenment. This outlook changed over the course of his time at Kamer-Taj, and he came to be considered one of the foremost members of the Ancient One's order, even learning more advanced magics directly under the tutelage of the Ancient One. This led some to speculate that Mordo was being groomed to be the successor as Earth's Sorcerer Supreme, though given what The Ancient One knew of Mordo's personality, that was likely not the case. One day while wondering through the Tibetan marketplace in disguise, Mordo came across the westerner Stephen Strange, who was looking for Kamer-Taj. Intrigued by the innate mystical potential he could sense in Strange, Mordo followed him through the streets of Lhasa and eventually followed him down an alleyway. There, Mordo conjured an illusion of a woman being cornered by some hoodlums. Strange intervenes, getting beaten up in the process, before Mordo dispels the illusion, helping Strange to his feet and taking him to Kamer-Taj. After telling Strange not to be disrespectful and forget everything he thinks he knows, he watches as The Ancient One gives Strange a small sampling of the power of the Multiverse before expelling him out of Kamer-Taj. Mordo however is intrigued by his persistence, staying on their doorstep for three hours straight. Mordo convinced The Ancient One to reconsider, allowing Strange into Kamer-Taj. Over the next several months, Mordo trained Strange in the Mystic Arts, and found him to be as brilliant and natural a student as he suspected he would be. Over time Strange began to show signs of disrespecting authority that Mordo did not agree with, and he cautioned him against following in the same path as the sorcerer Xandu, who had abandoned the Ancient One. This was especially true when he caught Strange messing with the Eye of Agamotto, which contained the Time Stone. After lecturing Strange about the dangers of temporal manipulation, the group received word of an attack at the New York Sanctum by Xandu and his disciples, as they were attempting to steal a piece of the Wand of Watoomb kept there. Mordo and Strange fought to defend the New York Sanctum, but Mordo was knocked out of the fight early. When he came back around he found Strange surprisingly alive (and carrying the relic known as the Cloak of Levitation). There, he listened as Strange accused The Ancient One of borrowing power from the Dark Dimension, something that Mordo refused to believe. He argued with Strange repeatedly over the necessity of killing their enemies before they had a chance to kill them. Shortly thereafter Xandu attacked again, trying to kill Mordo and Strange. Strange sent them into the Mirror Dimension, not knowing that the power of Xandu and his zealots would be increased there. Mordo and Strange ran through the mirror New York attempting to escape the mirror dimension, only for The Ancient One to intercede to save their lives. However, Mordo saw the mark of Dormammu upon the Ancient One's forehead, proving Strange's accusation to be correct. This shattered his belief in The Ancient One and her teachings, and after she was nearly killed, he turned away and returned to Kamer-Taj feeling dejected and betrayed. Strange returned later after the Ancient One's death, trying to console Mordo, to little avail. However Mordo did aide him in trying to stop Xandu from gaining the final piece of the Wand of Watoomb, only to arrive in Hong Kong too late. Strange then used the Eye of Agamotto, first to reverse time to resurrect Wong, and then to stop the Dark Dimension from merging with Earth directly. Mordo fought Xandu to a standstill as Strange traveled into the Dark Dimension and made a bargain with Dormammu, ending his threat to Earth seemingly forever. However, Mordo was convinced that there would be a price to pay, and he left the Masters of the Mystic Arts, surreptitiously taking the Wand of Watoomb with him. An undisclosed amount of time later, Mordo was seen confronting the former sorcerer Jonathan Pangborn. After telling him that the nature of sorcerers was to "pervert the Natural Law", Mordo used the Wand of Watoomb to seal off the ability of Pangborn to use magic, turning him back into a quadriplegic in the process, claiming that the world had "too many sorcerers." Powers & Abilities * Master of Mystic Arts: Mordo was one of the most gifted sorcerers taught by The Ancient One in Kamer-Taj, considered second in power only to the Sorcerer Supreme herself at one point (and seemingly would succeed her to most outside observers). Mordo was capable of conjuring weapons using the Eldritch Magic, but also used a pair of enchanted relics to augment his powers (namely the Staff of the Living Tribunal and the Vaulting Boots of Valtor, though Doctor Strange seemed to indicate that their names were meaningless). He was also capable of casting most spells that Strange himself would be able to use. * Wand of Watoomb: After the Battle of the Hong Kong Sanctum, Mordo surreptitiously took the pieces of the Wand of Watoomb with him, further augmenting his spell-casting capabilities. It was with the wand he was seemingly able to strip Jonathan Pangborn of his mystical abilities, rendering him into a quadriplegic again. * Master of Martial Arts: Moreso than any other practitioner of the Mystic Arts, Mordo is shown to be a master martial artist, with a heavy emphasis on Kung Fu. Weaknesses Mordo's weakness is his rigid belief in the "natural law", which defines practically everything he does. Conforming to this natural law is the primary decider in Mordo's mind of a person's intent, and he is a firm believer in there being a price for misusing any magic. Violation of this "law" in his eyes by The Ancient One caused him to almost immediately turn his back on her teachings, and eventually led him to have an innate desire to reduce the number of sorcerer's in the world who were "misusing" magic. This rigid belief in the order of things makes Mordo an easy foe to figure out, if studied long enough, and could easily be exploited by the proper foe. Film Details Mordo appears in the following films within the Earth-11584 continuity. In all cases he is portrayed by actor Chiwetel Ejiofor. * Doctor Strange (2016) Category:Earth-11584 Category:Earth-11584 Characters Category:Bad Characters